Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Slice of Life: Restricción Vehicular

Last night, my brother-in-law called and announced that he would be our chauffeur for the morning drive to school. The reason? Our license plate number had been called up for restricción vehicular today, meaning that from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm we are not allowed to drive throughout the city. Doing so breaks the law and also risks a hefty fine of over $200 US dollars!

The idea behind restricción vehicular is that with less cars on the road, air pollution can be somewhat controlled. Years ago, the restricción only affected vehicles without catalytic converters but on "pre-emergency" days such as today all vehicles are affected. For instance, today cars with catalytic converters whose license plates end with numbers 5 & 6 are restricted; but non-catalytic cars with license plates ending in 3-4-5-6-7 & 8 are restricted.

Ah, the joys of big city living! You just have to stay on your toes and hope your number doesn't fall on a very important day ...

1 comment:

Alisha said...

This will sound weird but I think you'll still understand...I wish I was there - going through the rain and the restriccion. It would mean I was home=) The last 2 posts made me homesick!